James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Last weekend I drew the t-shirt design for Anthrocon. This year’s theme is “Modern Stone-Age Furries.”

I'll be giving three digital slide lectures and a technique demo.

But the big event will be the fursuit parade. This is one of the largest events of its kind, with over 600 participants. All the costumers don their fursuits, which are handmade and often very elaborate. They’re mostly based on anthropomorphic cartoon animals.

According to an insider's description:

"Fursuits, similar to what athletic team mascots wear, are constructed of fabric, not fur or animal skins. While in a fursuit, a furry walks upright.

Some furries superimpose human clothing on the fursuit; for example, a snow leopard diva may wear a red cocktail dress and a big yellow dog may wear blue jeans.”

convention rules"No water pistols, silly string, or any thrown or projectile-type toy may be used in any area of the hotel or Convention Center"

no silly string?! man, i'm not going, haha.

looks crazy though, hope you have fun!! are you making a suit?...oh wait i bet you already have one! it all makes perfect sense now!! were you in that tigger outfit on the video, the one holding up the line, haha!! hilarous!

Hi! I'm the chap who's doing the colour and layout for the AC badge t-shirt.

Saying fursuits are like Mascot suits is technically indeed true, but really doesn't express the amount of variety and innovation you'll get to see.

Fursuits are often a worn artform. They range from the goofy, big head fuzzy types you're familiar with, to finely fitted, prosthetics with mobile ears, working mouths, camera eyes (And HUD systems inside the heads), and even "Rarsuits" that have their own built in audio effects system for roaring and stomping and other interactions.

It's an interesting environment, though quite different from other conventions where you may have been. Furry art revolves around animal characters, but especially realistic reanderings of animal characters, which are somewhat rare in commercial art compared to cartoony animals or meterial of other genres. So books like Dinotopia are very prized by furry artists and they made a good number of fans interested in dinosaurs.

Mr. Gurney, I am a furry convention veteran (shhh!). I wasn't planning to go to any this year, until I found that you are GOH at AC 2010. Now, it is IMPERATIVE that I attend with my sister. Dinotopia was a key book in my formative years. I used to stare at those paintings for hours, trying to work out how they had been created. Thank you for inspiring me, for sharing your incredible blog full of wisdom, and for giving furries a chance ;_; we are the nicest bunch of freaks you could ever hope to meet. Glad to know the Anthroconstaff has been an example.

Look for me wearing a Dinotopia-themed, airbrushed t-shirt, which I will hope to have autographed. Peace!